CHICAGO 4 Windows on the World Welcome to the fourth issue of Chicago Physics! In our last issue, we took you on a journey to the quantum world. In the current issue, we will guide you to explore the frontiers of our Universe.

This year has been an extremely challenging We hope that the stories we share will inspire year forcing all of us to adapt to new realities. you to become more involved and engaged in Despite unprecedented times, we have the Department. Please keep in touch and let achieved much, thanks to the collective us know what you think. efforts of everyone in our department including undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, the staff and the faculty. Yours sincerely, Special thanks should go to our staff and YOUNG-KEE KIM in the current issue our staff shares some Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor of their experiences in adapting their work Chair, the Department of Physics with students and faculty during these extraordinary circumstances. We also celebrate new members of the Department in this issue.

The 4th Maria Goeppert-Mayer Lecture featured Andrea Ghez who was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the supermassive black hole that lurks at the center of the Milky Way. Her work is nicely connected to the theme of the current issue. The virtual lecture by Ghez, a 1983 graduate of the Laboratory Schools, attracted a diverse audience of about 2,500 people from around the world, including Maria Goeppert-Mayer’s grand-daughter Tania DeBeau, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Maria Goeppert- Mayer lecturers (Melissa Franklin, Helen Quinn, and 2018 Nobel Laureate Donna Strickland), Program Director of the Heising- Simons Foundation Cyndi Atherton, Ghez’s mother Susanne Ghez, Ghez’s high school chemistry teacher from the University of Chicago Lab Schools Judy Keane, and Interim Director of the Lab Schools Dave Magill.

COVER PHOTO: DAVID MILLER, Professor Department of Physics, the University of Chicago CHICAGO PHYSICS 4 / WINDOWS ON THE WORLD

Editor’s Note Contents A century ago to observe the universe was that only very recently have we been able to point an optical telescope at the stars, and to build the first telescopes. Abby to imagine that visible light interacting with Vieregg explains how rapidly we are moving ordinary matter are the sum contents of our from detection of astrophysical Spacetime Singularities and Predictability 4 world. Expanding the observable spectrum to discovering their correlations. The other Robert M. Wald into radio frequencies allowed us to trace our recent “jolt” as Abby describes it is the universe back to the earliest available times remarkable discovery of gravitational waves Opening New Windows on the Universe 6 and understand that it is not in stasis. Hence arising from the merger of massive black Abby Vieregg traditional astronomy gave us the geometry holes and neutron stars – events that appear and some of the history of the universe to be common enough that gravitational Frontiers of Particle Physics 8 David Miller (though there is much more to do), but we wave astronomy is now a burgeoning field. now know it missed out most of the content – (Daniel Holz reported on the initial discovery Honoring the Department of Physics Staff 12 so called “dark matter” and “dark energy”. in Chicago Physics’ inaugural issue.) Black holes represent singularities in the solutions Meanwhile, in quite separately motivated of general relativity which remain mysterious, Adaptations in 2020 14 experiments on earth, we have dissected and Bob Wald presents us with the latest matter in particle colliders to confirm thinking on how lifting the veil on cosmic New Faces 20 the “standard model”, which is a triumph of censorship might enable the construction of unification of three of the four known forces a quantum theory of gravity. For a special Prizes & Awards 22 of nature, yet annoyingly incomplete (no colloquium upcoming this spring, we are gravity) and perfused with parameters whose delighted to welcome back Walter Massey, Events 23 values we cannot predict. who is one of our most distinguished former As physicists, we would like matters to faculty. He is a theoretical physicist whose be more tidy, and the solution is more data. roles have included being Director of Argonne But not just more data in the traditional National Laboratory, Director of the National probes but qualitatively new “windows on Science Foundation, Provost of the University the universe.” In this edition of Chicago of California, President of Morehouse College, Physics, three of our colleagues talk about and President of the School of the Art Institute the new tools we have to observe the fabric of Chicago. of the universe. The particle collider at For us, as for all of you, COVID has made CERN recreates conditions from the early this a challenging year for education, and for universe and while the standard model is our students. Our staff has risen to this now confirmed in all of its ingredients, challenge and tell you here about the efforts David Miller explains how increasing the put in place to mitigate the pandemics resolving power and flux of this instrument impacts, and sometimes how rethinking gives us an opportunity both for precision what we do can deliver unexpected measurements and searching for candidates improvements. Nonetheless, we are looking for dark matter. Neutrinos – the elusive forward to putting the pandemic behind us, particle named by Fermi – are streaming past and consolidating lessons learned. us in high flux, but are so difficult to capture

PETER LITTLEWOOD CHICAGO PHYSICS 4 / WINDOWS ON THE WORLD

region of spacetime, there should be an accompanying breakdown of predictability. Spacetime Singularities In other words, if it is possible for an observer to “see” a singularity, then even if one is and Predictability given the complete initial conditions of the universe prior to the gravitational collapse, one would not be able to predict what will ROBERT M. WALD happen to observers who go sufficiently far inside of a black hole. The strong cosmic censorship conjecture asserts that, generically, all singularities that result from nonsingular Roger Penrose was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics initial data must be of the type that one would fall into them before they can be seen. The first image of a black hole, obtained using Event (shared with Andrea Ghez and Reinhard Genzel) for his ground- Horizon Telescope observations of the center of the galaxy If true, this would mean that there would M87. Credit: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration breaking work proving that, according to general relativity, be no breakdown of predictability in any singularities must arise in a wide variety of circumstances relevant nonsingular regions of spacetime. It should This can be formulated as follows. The However, for RNdS black holes, quantum to gravitational collapse and to . However, although be noted that, despite its name, “strong boundary of the predictable region of the effects come to the rescue of strong cosmic cosmic censorship” does not imply “cosmic spacetime is called the Cauchy horizon. censorship. During the past year, Stefan the singularity theorems of Penrose and Hawking establish that censorship,” since strong cosmic censorship The Reissner-Nordstrom and Kerr solutions Hollands, Jochen Zahn, and I showed that, “something must go wrong,” they say very little about the nature of would not preclude a singularity created from have a nonsingular Cauchy horizon. However, within the context of quantum field theory in the singularities. This has remained a major, open issue in general gravitational collapse from extending out to arbitrarily small initial perturbations of curved spacetime, the behavior of quantum distant observers and thus not be confined to these solutions will become singular on the fields near the Cauchy horizon of RNdS black relativity for the past 50 years. a black hole. Cauchy horizon. holes is far more singular than that of classical fields. Even for choices of parameters that The singularity inside of a Schwarzschild Thus, the behavior found in perturbations One very important open issue regarding true, and there are many indirect arguments lead to only very mildly singular behavior black hole (corresponding to a black hole with of the Reissner-Nordstrom and Kerr solutions singularities is whether any singularity arising that support it. However, there is nothing classically, the quantum field behavior is no angular momentum or electric charge) is in support of strong cosmic censorship. from the complete gravitational collapse of a close to a complete proof of this conjecture sufficiently singular that solutions cannot be is of the type compatible with strong cosmic However, a few years ago, an apparent body must always be hidden within a black yet, and, indeed, many mathematicians are extended beyond the Cauchy horizon. censorship. However, the singularities counterexample was found. Consider a hole. By definition, a black hole is a region continuing to build up tools that might help I believe that it may be possible to extend this inside of a Reissner-Nordstrom black hole Reissner-Nordstrom black hole that is put in of spacetime from which it is impossible to tackle this question. argument to completely general spacetimes. (corresponding to a black hole with electric an expanding universe with accelerating escape. If the singularity is contained within If so, this would establish a general version There is a related question about singularities charge) and inside of a Kerr black hole expansion (as we observe in our own a black hole, then—unless we, ourselves, go of strong cosmic censorship in the context of that is also of considerable interest. Suppose (corresponding to a black hole with angular universe). The resulting solution—known as into the black hole—we don’t have to worry quantum field theory in curved spacetime. that cosmic censorship is true and that momentum) would be visible to observers a Reissner-Nordstrom-deSitter (RNdS) black about it because anything inside a black hole singularities of gravitational collapse are who enter sufficiently far into the black hole. hole—has the property that perturbations Ultimately, of course, one would like to have cannot have any causal effect on anything always contained within a black hole. But In other words, for a Reissner-Nordstrom decay more rapidly in time due to the a description of the singularities themselves outside of the black hole. By contrast, if a now suppose that one goes into a black or Kerr black hole, only a portion of the expansion of the universe. It turns out that this in a full, quantum theory of gravity. We are singularity arising from gravitational collapse hole. Could one then “see” the singularity? spacetime would be predictable. (This portion makes the singularity on the Cauchy horizon very far from that goal at present. However, were not contained in a black hole, it would be Alternatively, would one necessarily fall into includes the entire exterior of the black hole milder, and, for certain choices of parameters as I have described above, progress is being a called a “naked singularity’’ and, in principle, the singularity before one could “see” it? and a portion of its interior.) These examples of the black hole, it makes the singularity made towards understanding the nature of a distant observer could “see” its effects. The This question might seem rather esoteric, do not disprove strong cosmic censorship on the Cauchy horizon so mild that it shouldn’t singularities in classical general relativity and belief that all singularities of gravitational but it contains fundamental implications with because of the word “generically” in the be considered a singularity at all. Thus, it quantum field theory in curved spacetime. collapse are contained within black holes is regard to the issue of predictability. There conjecture. These solutions are very special, would appear that a generically perturbed known as the cosmic censorship conjecture. are no (known) laws of physics governing and arbitrarily small perturbations will RNdS black hole can be extended beyond its The overwhelming belief in the general what can emerge from a singularity, so if one drastically alter the nature of the singularity. Cauchy horizon, in violation of strong cosmic relativity community is that this conjecture is can “see” a singularity from a nonsingular censorship and predictability.

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Opening New Windows on the Universe

ABIGAIL VIEREGG

Ten years ago, multi-messenger astrophysics including neutrinos and gravitational waves seemed far-fetched, at least to me. After all, the only sources that had ever been seen in the light of neutrinos were the Sun and Supernova 1987, and gravitational waves had not been directly detected.

Yet I am amazed at how science progresses. IceCube continues to invent new analysis Sometimes it moves with a jolt, like an techniques and acquire more data, and the earthquake under your feet. You wake up one significance of this detection has grown. day and all of a sudden your understanding In addition, IceCube has started seeing hints has shifted markedly. This happened for me of correlations (both in time and in space) History has shown that when you build a new, we are planning to deploy the first set of NSF’s Summit Station in Greenland, where the Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland (RNO-G) is being built. in February 2016, when I watched the press of neutrino events with specific sources. powerful detector, even if you aren’t really sure detectors to NSF’s Summit Station Greenland conference where LIGO announced the first The landscape has changed significantly over what you’ll find just below the surface where this summer. We have our fingers crossed detection of gravitational waves. Rather the last decade. No longer are we hoping to no one has looked before, that if you build the for no more deployment delays (getting than being with my colleagues at Chicago discover astrophysical neutrinos; instead, we right instrument, you’ll surely find something new things to the field during a pandemic is (which I was sad to miss) I was at UBC, where are characterizing them and using them to interesting. I took a bet and decided to place challenging to say the least!) I was giving a colloquium that day. I had to learn about the astrophysical processes that it on developing technology to detect the It is a simple idea: each time you find a new rewrite the first 5 slides of my colloquium drive their acceleration. highest energy neutrinos, above the energies way of looking at the universe, you learn new right there, on the spot. Enough had changed that IceCube can reach, to learn about the We sit now in this exciting new era of multi- things that were previously unknowable, and that morning to render my usual “science nature and evolution of the highest energy messenger astrophysics, where gravitational linking together observations using multiple motivation” slides obsolete. accelerators in the universe, and maybe even wave astronomy and neutrino astronomy messengers leads to new discoveries. I can learn something about neutrino interactions Sometimes science moves slowly, are no longer fiction. One in which we only imagine what the next decade holds. in the mean time. Along with colleagues incrementally, and then one day you look up can credibly talk about using information from from many institutions in Europe and the US, and you realize just how much the landscape electromagnetic observations across the we’ve been building and integrating a new has changed. This is what has happened with entire spectrum as well as observations of experiment (the Radio Neutrino Observatory neutrino astronomy over the last decade. gravitational waves, neutrinos, and cosmic in Greenland) over the last two years, which IceCube, a large neutrino detector at the rays to learn about fundamental physical is a radio detector that aims to discover South Pole, made the first observation of laws, the evolution of the universe, and the signatures of the highest energy neutrinos as astrophysical neutrinos in 2013 – a signal just nature of the most energetic accelerators in they interact in the Greenland Ice Sheet. After poking up above the background. the universe. a year delay due to the ongoing pandemic,

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dark matter and new forces of nature; we look to further understand the composition OpeningFrontiers Newofof ParticleParticle Windows of the particle universe; and we aim to precisely measure the exotic properties of onPhysics the Universe particles that we have known about for years, but which we are able to see in a new light with these new technologies. DAVID W. MILLER Much like any area of breakthrough science, we may only be able to answer these questions by building the tools that allow us to ask them correctly. In short: we must Exploring the frontiers of our Universe has always been a critical continuously invent new paths that will lead human endeavor. But what if humans could not only peer us to our discoveries. That is where the real backwards into the history of the Universe—as we do with the work lies. Here at Chicago, the questions that we are asking about the nature of the celestial observatories that are used to study astronomy, Higgs boson, the unseen properties of other astrophysics, and cosmology—but also to directly interact with the massive particles like the W and Z bosons or basic elements that constitute the fabric of the Universe itself? top quarks, as well as the existence of dark matter, all require novel technologies and methodologies that push the boundaries In many ways, this seemingly impossible The work of experimental high energy particle of high-speed electronics, pattern recognition task is the daily business of particle physics. physics—besides digesting that mouthful algorithms, and theoretical understanding. In the case of high energy collider physics, of a description!—is therefore to study in this is achieved by colliding particles such great detail the existence, properties, and Calorimetry as hydrogen nuclei—protons—at nearly the interactions of the fundamental building One of the most important pieces of speed of light in a laboratory. This enables blocks of our Universe: particles. We seek instrumentation for a high energy collider us to study the processes that dominated to answer a question that is simultaneously physics experiment is the calorimeter. This the Universe when it was less than one tenth very real and very existential: What is the system, as the name suggests, measures of one billionth of a second old (age ~ l0-l0 Universe made of and how do those pieces energy; energy not in terms of the calories seconds). At the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) fit together? A modern particle physics like in your favorite Swiss chocolate bar, at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, we create experiment is therefore an observatory but rather in terms of the amount of energy the highest energy human-made collisions of the subatomic structure of nature. We that a fast-moving particle has that was

ever between two particles. We do this in a conduct simultaneous measurements millions produced in the LHC collisions. In particular, Top: laboratory setting instead of waiting for the of times per second using a multitude of as part of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, The original construction of the ATLAS central hadronic calorimeter (or, TileCal). cosmos to do it for us, and we do it 40 million technologies, wavelengths, time domains, the so-called Tile Calorimeter—so named Bottom: times per second. With this technology we and methodologies. We study processes that because of its design in the form of “tiles”— Structure of the various calorimeter systems of the have to ability to manipulate and control the take place in less than a trillionth of a second is essential for measuring the energy and ATLAS experiment. studies of never-before-seen phenomena in a and search for the existence of never-before- direction of quarks and gluons produced way that is different from and complementary seen phenomena. The extreme energies of in the collisions. These appear in the detector to the outward-looking telescopes of our the proton collisions at facilities such as the as jets of charged and neutral particles. astrophysics colleagues, and allows us to not Large Hadron Collider yield an unprecedented The calorimeter consists of a fine-grained only open a new window on the Universe but resolving power for these measurements. steel matrix with 430,000 “tiles” of plastic to also climb through it. With the experimental data that we collect at scintillator dispersed in the matrix. Optical these observatories, we conduct searches for fibers from the tiles are grouped into 5,000

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calorimeter cells, whose signals are detected Calorimeter is designed to measure: jets. Our Opening the window for the next generation and recorded by 10,000 photomultiplier trigger systems have been designed to focus of scientists tubes and associated readout electronics. on distinguishing between jets that are the Our group at Chicago is able to conduct Signals from each photomultiplier are result of potential new and interesting physics a multi-faceted collider physics program by digitized every 25 ns and processed with processes, from those that are the result of combining decades of expertise in dedicated electronics to obtain energy and extraneous and very “uninteresting” processes instrumentation, physics analysis, and data- time measurements. The Chicago ATLAS in terms of the discoveries that we think await. intensive computation with novel ideas group played a leading role in designing, In particular, the Chicago group has played a and new endeavors in both machine learning constructing, and commissioning the leading role in developing the Global Feature and electronics design. But it is the students Tile Calorimeter system, and is currently Extraction Trigger (gFEX) system. This novel and the postdocs who are carrying out this responsible for the calibration of the device brings new capability to the very work and dramatically increasing sensitivities readout electronics and participates in the first level of the real-time hardware trigger to groundbreaking discoveries. Inherent maintenance and operation of the calorimeter system, by receiving the entire complement to the complete experimental particle as a whole. We are currently in the midst of calorimeter data on a single high-speed physics program at Chicago is the training, of redesigning, building, testing, and electronics board for online event selection. support, and mentorship of undergraduate eventually installing brand new electronics With both high-speed field-programmable and graduate students and postdoctoral that will be able to cope with the higher gate arrays and innovative multi-processor researchers in a broad range of methods, radiation levels expected to be created by the system-on-chip capabilities, this addition to experimental design, leadership, and LHC in a few years, and to take advantage the ATLAS experiment will provide a new communication. Furthermore, we have a deep of technology improvements since the time of window into identifying and measuring new and strong commitment to diversity and the original design. particles that decay to Higgs bosons, top inclusion that is essential for bringing the quarks, and other extremely massive particles. most impactful ideas to bear on the research High-speed electronics The new custom electronics system for the ATLAS global Feature Extraction (or, gFEX) hardware trigger for Run 3 of problems we face. Only in this way can One of the grand challenges of our time is the LHC. New directions we ensure that we are able to fully open the filtering and processing the mountains of Outside of the direct aims of the ATLAS windows unto the Universe for generations images and data—measured in petabytes experiment, we are involved in developing to come. and soon exabytes—that large-scale scientific new ideas for trigger systems in general, as facilities such as the LHC produce in order well as algorithmic improvements to particle to find the exceedingly rare examples of the identification, reconstruction, and calibration. discoveries that are waiting. Bandwidths of These efforts include the development of the raw data that we collect can exceed 100 Tb/s first symmetry-group based machine learning of heterogeneous, high-dimensional images architecture for particle identification in and data points. To combat this overwhelming particle physics, the Lorentz Group Network. and mostly noisy avalanche of data, we at We are also investigating paradigm shifts Chicago have been designing, building, and in trigger and data processing systems that commissioning so-called trigger systems that incorporate machine learning approaches implement algorithms to reduce the data to real-time data reduction, filtering, and volume by carefully selecting only about even online continuous learning. For these one out of every hundred thousand events projects, the group works closely with a range that are created. At a hadron collider like the of Computer Science faculty, postdocs, and LHC, the biggest source of “uninteresting” students, including joint publications and data—data that we do not prioritize for funding models. discoveries, at least—comes from exactly the sorts of physics processes that the Tile

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Honoring the OpeningDepartment New of Windows onPhysics the Universe Staff

SHADLA CYCHOLL

In this issue of CP-4, we have Clockwise from top left: Mark Chantell asked the staff of the Physics Stuart Gazes Zosia Krusberg Department to share some Tiffany Kurns David McCowan of their experiences in adapting Andrew Nadlman Putri Kusumo their work with students David Reid Kevin Van De Bogart and faculty during these extrodinary circumstances.

As the department administrator, I have been amazed by the efforts by our staff to adapt and even improve the department’s activities over the past year. This spring, we held a virtal reception attended by faculty, postdocs and students to recognize these contributions. Young-Kee presented each staff member with a plaque in appreciation for their outstanding work. The efforts by staff have contributed greatly to keeping the UChicago Physics community connected and thriving during this time and we cannot thank them enough!

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Students in PHYS 226 had access to a full suite of circuit components and test equipment touse at home. This photo shows the complete setup being beta tested out of a closet Adaptations at thehome of one of the lab staff. in 2020

CHANGES IN TEACHING LABS MARK CHANTELL, KEVIN VAN DE BOGART AND DAVID MCCOWAN

In March 2020 when the University made online simulations or asked students to put as possible. First, for several experiments, the decision to close campus and switch to together simple setups from household we were able to rebuild apparatus to allow remote teaching, many across campus materials, and we invited students to explore students to connect remotely over the scrambled to translate lectures and topics more deeply and ask their own internet to control the equipment. In these discussions into virtual experiences. But the experimental questions. Moving into Autumn experiments, the students had many of the job of the Physics Instructional Laboratories Quarter, these labs have changed further into same abilities they would have had were they staff was even more challenging: how to 2-week open-ended projects, and TAs have in the lab—e.g to move components, to collect move the inherently “hands-on” practice of shifted from someone students ask for help and process detector signals, and to record experimental physics to a completely “hands- when the apparatus is broken to someone extended data runs—but with the chance to off” world? who mentors and guides the group. At return and collect more (and different) data present, these labs serve 750 students and are as often as they wanted. Second, experiments From the start, we viewed the situation as led by 39 lab TAs! that could not be modified in this way could not just a technical challenge to be met, but still be run on a proposal-based system. In also as an opportunity to reconsider the role For the electronics course (PHYS 226), the this format, groups researched the available of the instructional labs within the broader problem was quite different; this class requires equipment and then designed and directed physics curriculum. While it would be possible, making (and breaking​ )​ circuits in order to specific experiments that the lab staff on for example, to provide students previously- understand how components work, and campus carried out. These experiences collected data or videos of staff doing the switching to online simulations or theoretical mirrored the way that a scientist might experiments, these solutions seemed artificial; discussions would simply not work as a request observation time on a telescope they met the definition ​of lab work, but did substitute. Therefore, we shipped a complete (which a technician would operate) or plan an not get at the heart of what it means to ​ kit to each student—including an oscilloscope, experiment at the Advanced Photon Source engage in​ experimental physics. Instead, we function generator, breadboard and a wide at Argonne (which would be scheduled for stepped back and asked “What are the unique assortment of electronic components, cables, a slot in between other experiments run lessons that experimental labs can convey and connectors—so they could build, test, on the same device). With both styles of that cannot be taught in lecture?” Surprisingly, and debug circuits at home. These expansive experiments, students were given several many of these lessons had nothing to do setups allowed students to complete nearly weeks to plan and iterate, and worked in with being in​ the lab​, and as we redesigned the same exercises they would have done in a larger groups to build collaboration skills. The In PHYS 211, we were able to manufacture and program content, we discovered that there are many normal quarter, and even afforded them more a version of a gamma cross section experiment that result was much closer to a short research attempted under ordinary circumstances. Not was remotely operable over the internet from anywhere in positive changes that likely will remain even flexibility and time to explore and develop the world. This photo was taken while the apparatuses project than a traditional lab, and students every idea has worked smoothly, but overall were in use by students, with platters whirring to change after we return to a regular in-person format. circuits between meetings. Students got responded well to the freedom and expansive the results (and feedback from students) have absorber thicknesses and detectors collecting and counting creative at the end of the course, and pursued photon pulses. For the introductory labs (PHYS 120s, 130s, nature that these labs provided. exceeded our expectations. This new way of small (but sometimes still quite ambitious​) and 140s), we shifted the focus away from thinking about instructional lab pedagogy will projects of their own choice for the last week Although 2020 has been a very challenging apparatus and towards teaching the “process” carry forward into future years, and we are and a half. year for the lab staff, we have enjoyed the of doing experimental physics—how do you excited about the possibilities when we are opportunity to experiment and try out new decide what to measure? How do you test a Finally, for the advanced labs (PHYS 211), we able to return to in-person teaching. and different lab concepts—including some model? How do you design an experiment to developed a two-prong approach to give things which we likely would never have investigate a hypothesis? ​We used realistic our physics majors as realistic an experience

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Adaptations in 2020

VIRTUAL DEMONSTRATIONS EQUITY, DIVERSITY ANDREW NADLMAN & INCLUSION DAVID REID

In mid-March, as the University began Simply putting the apparatus on the table In recent years, particularly under the David Schmitz. Professor Kim took steps preparations for remote instruction, I had and pressing record would not be enough to leadership of Professor Kim, the Department to form new groups for Racial and Ethnic serious doubts about the effectiveness of a engage the students. of Physics has become increasingly more Minorities in Physics and LGBT+ Physicists remote demonstrations program. The purpose committed to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion to help these populations form a sense Some of the demonstration videos I created, of lecture demonstrations is to allow students (EDI). When the pandemic struck, we were of community, which was more difficult to of course, were more successful than others. to see real phenomena in the classroom in a determined not to lose the momentum we’ve do under the socially distanced conditions Working on my own, I often had to settle way that can only be imitated by diagrams, built up. The department’s EDI committee, of the pandemic. The EDI committee works for acceptable but timely results instead of animations, and pre-recorded videos. There chaired by Professor Linda Young,and closely with the Anti-racism Working exceptional quality. Some demonstrations is a long tradition and a rich history behind receiving invaluable help from Neli Fanning Group run by several very committed and were also a challenge to capture because of many of our demonstrations, some of which (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Director for compassionate students. And working fundamental differences between the human have been in continuous use since the the PSD), continued to meet to forge our with the Physical Science Division we have eye and a digital camera. The time required to founding of the University. plans to build a more inclusive environment reaffirmed our commitment to the actions edit and render each video was significant but for positive impact on the academic life both underway and being planned despite a With only a few weeks to develop a new this again was an opportunity to learn new of the department at all levels including controversial Executive Order issued by the approach before the Spring Quarter, I started techniques and tools to make post-production students (undergraduate and graduate), legislative branch of the government. producing videos of our demonstrations that I as quick and painless as possible. post-docs, faculty, and staff. In addition to hoped would overcome the inherent distance So, on the EDI front, the pandemic has not With the return to limited in-person instruction continuing work, our EDI efforts expanded and inauthenticity of most pre-recorded slowed us down. We look forward to sub- in the fall quarter, the demonstration program when Professor Kim formed a 14-member content. My goal was to give the students a stantial results in the months and years ahead. has returned to a more traditional form. team to join the new network being formed clearer view of the demonstrations than they Students are once again able to see real by the American Physical Society dubbed would have even seen in the front row of the phenomena and instructors can ground and IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity lecture hall. reinforce the conceptual and mathematical Alliance), which, at the time of this writing, has I have no training in filmmaking but I quickly course content. As the academic year approximately 100 teams and an active multi- discovered that to create a sense of fidelity continues, I expect the demos program to year program underway. for students I would have to learn to use continue in this hybridized form with a mix of Then, on May 25, 2020, the killing of George the basics of cinematography: composition, carefully crafted pre-recorded content and the Floyd in Minneapolis, and the recognition it lighting, frame rate, focus, depth of field. traditional live demonstrations. brought to other similar incidents, sparked many around the nation (and the world) to suddenly, and perhaps finally, begin to take active measures to combat the ravages caused by racism and bias against Black and other minoritized populations. We too have intensified our efforts which include the following: Our EDI committee was expanded for increased representation from within the department. Steps were taken to ensure continuity between the previous committee and the new larger committee, chaired by

A still frame from the new tuning forks lecture demonstration video.

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Adaptations in 2020

CHANGES FOR CHANGES FOR REMOTE COLLOQUIUM 2020 OPEN HOUSE GRADUATE STUDENTS UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TIFFANY KURNS PUTRI KUSUMO ZOSIA KRUSBERG STUART GAZES

In March, our graduate students’ lives were In March 2020, just before Winter quarter Physics Colloquium is a series of talks by The COVID-19 pandemic has caused so attended successfully and we are happy inexorably transformed by Covid-19. As finals, UChicago students quickly left campus speakers from the University of Chicago and many things to happen, some predictable, our students kept their cameras on, joined authorities tried to curb the virus’ rapid and the Physics Department (as well as guests from various universities and places others not. Our way of life in Physics, in on lively discussions and asked a wealth spread through citywide, and sometimes the rest of the University) had to suddenly worldwide. Lectures cover a broad range of the last couple years, was always social of questions. nationwide, lockdowns, some of our students shift to remote exams. Since then, we have topics within physics and sometimes outside with a Physics Colloquium every Thursday Excited for this academic year, we hope all chose to remain in Chicago, while others been adjusting to the “new normal” of of physics. It is an excellent opportunity afternoon, weekly seminars, graduate student our students stay connected, safely, and know returned to their families in the United States asynchronous lectures, remote labs, and to learn and enjoy new ideas, discoveries, town hall with the chair, thesis defenses and that we are all in this together. The Physics or abroad. In the first few weeks, there was a online tests. and become introduced to physics. March department get-togethers. Since March 2020, Department will continue to put honest pervasive sense of uncertainty, anxiety, and 2020, we enjoyed our weekly lecture until we unthinkingly accepted that our reality Instructors in Physics have approached this effort and attention to whatever it is that fear about the future. Soon, however, students’ Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) made it lives in cyberspace and no longer in common in different ways. Some have taught students may need. To our incoming class of lives settled into a new normal. Classes moved impossible to hold in-person lectures. We had spaces. We all had to rediscover the value synchronous lectures via Zoom, while 2020, thank you for the mass attendance, we online, as did the study groups students to rethink if we were going to continue with and power of community by integrating our others have used Panopto to deliver pre- are glad that you know orientation matters. formed to collaborate on problem sets from the talks. We decided to cancel the remaining “at-home” self to our professional self while recorded lectures. And when Internet Welcome to Chicago, the city of unpredictable around the world. With offices and labs shut Winter and Spring speakers out of caution. still being home. connectivity became an issue, one class weather but please know that you will be OK down, advisors held research meetings and streamed via YouTube. During the summer of 2020, we decided to Not surprisingly, our physics orientation this even if you are cooled to -273.15C. social events on Zoom to stay connected with bring back our colloquium series virtually. year was held virtually. Instead of welcoming their students and to check in on their general The Department has made it a goal to Colloquium came back in a bi-weekly online our incoming first year students to our well-being. Thesis committee meetings incorporate research-based approaches to format with “Physics Tea Time” before department, they welcomed us to their and thesis defenses were held remotely— physics pedagogy, with an emphasis the lecture. Tea time provided an opportunity home-wherever they were around the world. the latter to the excitement of many friends on active learning. And despite the constraints for many discussions outside of physics This opportunity allowed for more creative and family members. (Since the early days imposed by online teaching, for some and helped with morale overall; with much introductions, information sessions and of the lockdown, close to thirty thesis instructors this has presented an opportunity interest and positive feedback, bringing research presentations. Our Department Chair, committee meetings have taken place, and to explore the “flipped classroom” approach. the talks back was an excellent way to get Young-Kee Kim, opened the orientation with sixteen students have successfully defended Zoom-based classes, for example, everyone together. an embracing welcome that reached as far their dissertations!) And, early this fall, we make it relatively easy to incorporate as India and China. Our Director of Graduate welcomed the members of our largest-ever “breakout rooms”. Studies, Zosia Krusberg, led the following incoming class to the department with virtual One thing that many Instructors have found session of introductions of the department GDEs, orientation events, and Physics 300 is that some of the practices imposed by staff and sharing nuggets of knowledge meetings. As the number of Covid-19 cases the pandemic have their own set of virtues. about graduate school. Our current graduate has risen dramatically in recent weeks, our For example, we have learned new ways to students participated by leading sessions students are bracing for continued Zoom- deal with the problem of ever-increasing about diversity and at a safe distance gave based graduate study. However, we are enrollments in our introductory courses. a tour of campus for students who already longing desperately for the day where we can As a result, a return to in-person classes won’t moved to Chicago. Each session was all get together for tea, coffee, and cookies entirely be a return to the old way of doing in KPTC again! things. New data – even from unplanned “experiments” – will help inform our teaching moving forward.

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New Faces

NEW FACULTY The Department of Physics welcomes its The Department of Physics welcomes the newest faculty members. Professor DAVID 2020-2021 Graduate Students! DEMILLE joined the Department of Physics and the James Franck Institute in September THOMAS ALFORD SHAE MACHLUS 2020. He uses precise quantum control HENRY ANDO QINGHAO MAO over diatomic molecules to address a broad ANUJ APTE SRAVAN MUNAGAVALASA range of scientific questions. GRACE CHESMORE DAVID NEWSOM CHUN TUNG CHEUNG YUXIANG PEI SHOSHANA CHIPMAN DUNCAN ROCHA SANSKRITI CHITRANSH MATTEO SABATO Associate Professor JEFFREY MCMAHON is DAVI COSTA MATTHEW SCHMITT an experimentalist who studies cosmology and PRATITI DEB CARLOS SIERRA fundamental physics through measurements CHUNYANG DING AUSTIN STOVER of the cosmic microwave background. He is a member of Department of Astronomy and EGE EREN SHREYA SUTARIYA Astrophysics, Department of Physics, Kavli HARRY FOSBINDER-ELKINS CHIN YI TAN Institute for Cosmological Physics and Enrico DIEGO GARCIA SEPULVEDA MAXIM TOPEL Fermi Institute. JOEY GOLEC SYRIAN TRUONG JUAN PABLO GONZALEZ AGUILERA LYNN TUNG ZHEN HAN MOHIT VERMA PUTRI KUSUMO is the Graduate Affairs NEW ADMINISTRATION ALEXANDRA HANSELMAN LAUREN WEISS Administrator in the Department Physics. ELISE HINKLE LI WEN In her role, Putri works with the Director OWEN HOWELL BIN (BRADY) WU of Graduate Affairs and is responsible for PEIRAN HU RACHANA YAJUR organizing and implementing policies and procedures for current graduate students. GEORGE ISKANDER LANQING (FAROUT) YUAN She provides operational support for MUNJUNG JUNG MAXIM ZELENKO graduate faculty committees and initiatives. YAOCHENG (DESMOND) LI GEOFFREY ZHENG She serves as a liaison between students MINZHAO (HENRY) LIU VICTOR ZHANG and administration. Putri holds a Bachelor’s YINRUI LIU JINWEI ZHU degree in Organizational Communication, and a Master’s degree in Human Resources, both from DePaul University. She has spent the past seven years working in academia in various student-related positions.

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Prizes & Awards Events

For full and future event listings, please visit: FACULTY AWARDS APPOINTMENTS & physics.uchicago.edu/events/ UPCOMING EVENTS PROMOTIONS MAY 13, 2021 Congratulations to our following faculty: Zachariasen Lecture YOUNG-KEE KIM was recently appointed Horowitz Gary, University of California, Professor SIDNEY NAGEL has been elected Senior Advisor to the Provost for Global Santa Barbara to the American Philosophical Society, the Scientific Initiatives. oldest learned society in the United States. MAY 17, 2021 DAVID MILLER was recently promoted to He is currently interested in how disordered Physics Colloquium Associate Professor with tenure in systems can exhibit more flexible behavior Walter E. Massey, Senior Advisor to President the Department of Physics and the Enrico than their ordered counterparts. He is also a Zimmer and former UChicago Physics Faculty Fermi Institute. pioneer in studying non-linear and far-from- OCTOBER 21, 2021 was recently reappointed equilibrium behavior in fluids. ARVIND MURUGAN Maria Goeppert-Mayer Lecture to a second term as Assistant Professor Myriam Sarachik, City College of New York Professor JOHN CARLSTROM has been named in the Department of Physics at the James a fellow of the American Association for the Franck Institute. Advancement of Science.

Professor PAOLO PRIVITERA has been named PAST EVENTS a recipient of the Faculty Award for Excellence The 2020 Maria Goeppert-Mayer Lecture in Graduate Teaching and Mentoring. featured Nobel Laureate Andrea Ghez. The lecture attracted a diverse audience of Professor was awarded MARGARET GARDEL about 2,500 people from around the world, the Sackler Prize in Biophysics. including Provost Ka Yee, Vice Provost Melissa

Professor ROBERT ROSNER has been elected Gilliam, Vice Provost Karen Kim, Dean of to the presidency of the American Physical Physical Sciences Division Angela Olinto, Maria Goeppert-Mayer’s grand-daughter Society. He will assume the position in 2023, DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS Tania DeBeau, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Maria when he will become the eighth UChicago Goeppert-Mayer lecturers (Melissa Franklin scientist to do so. Our Galactic from Harvard, Helen Quinn from SLAC, and Center: Professor YOUNG-KEE KIM has chaired 2018 Nobel laureate Donna Strickland from A Unique Waterloo), Program Director of the Heising- the Division of Particles and Fields of the Laboratory for American Physical Society. the Physics & Simons Foundation Cyndi Atherton, Andrea Astrophysics of Ghez’s mother Susanne Ghez, Andrea’s Professor SERGEI NAGAITSEV has chaired the Black Holes high school chemistry teacher from the Lab Division of Physics of Beams of the American NOBEL Schools Judy Keane, and Interim Director of Physical Society. LAUREATE, the U.Chicago Lab Schools Dave Magill. PHYSICS 2020 ANDREA Professor DANIEL HOLZ has been elected to GHEZ PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, chair the Division of Astrophysics in 2022. THU LOS ANGELES OCT 3:30pm 22 The proximity of our Galaxy's center presents a unique opportunity to study a galactic nucleus with orders of magnitude higher spatial resolution than can be brought to bear on any other galaxy. After more than a decade of diraction-limited imaging on large CHARLES L. KANE, theoretical physicist known ground-based telescopes, the case for a supermassive black hole at the Galactic center has gone from a possibility to a certainty, thanks to measurements of individual stellar orbits. The rapidity with which these stars move on small-scale orbits indicates a source of CLICK HERE TO tremendous gravity and provides the best evidence that supermassive black holes, which for his work characterizing quantum electronic JOIN US ON ZOOM confront and challenge our knowledge of fundamental physics, do exist in the Universe. This work was made possible through the use of speckle imaging techniques, which corrects for the blurring eects of the earth's atmosphere in post-processing and allowed the first diraction-limited images to be produced with these large ground-based states of matter, will receive the Honorary telescopes. Further progress in high-angular resolution imaging techniques on large, ground- based telescopes has resulted the more sophisticated technology of adaptive optics, which corrects for these eects in real time. This has increased the power of imaging by an order Degree of Doctor of Science in 2021. of magnitude and permitted spectroscopic study at high resolution on these telescopes for the first time. With adaptive optics, high resolution studies of the Galactic center have shown that what happens near a supermassive black hole is quite dierent than what theoretical models have predicted, which changes many of our notions on how galaxies

Support provided by form and evolve over time. By continuing to push on the cutting-edge of high-resolution technology, we have been able to capture the orbital motions of stars with su­cient precision to test Einstein’s General theory of Relativity in a regime that has never been probed before.

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A special thanks to all our contributors who have so generously dedicated their time and talents in producing our department newsletter.

PUBLISHER CONTRIBUTORS

Young-Kee Kim Mark Chantrell, Director of Instructional Laboratories

EDITOR Stuart Gazes, Senior Lecturer and Undergraduate Peter Littlewood Program Chair

Zosia Krusberg, DESIGNER Senior Lecturer and Director of Graduate Studies Samantha Delacruz Tiffany Kurns, Undergraduate Affairs Administrator ASSISTANT EDITOR Putri Kusumo, Shadla Cycholl Graduate Affairs Administrator

David McCowan, Instructional Laboratory Staff

David Miller, Associate Professor

Andrew Nadlman, Lecture Demonstrator

David Reid, Lecturer

Kevin Van De Bogart, Instructional Laboratory Staff

Abigail Vieregg, Associate Professor

Robert M. Wald, Professor

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So many of the accomplishments associated with Physics at the University of Chicago have been made possible by the generous support of alumni, families, and friends through direct contributions and estate gifts. If you would like to support programs and places at the Department of Physics that are particularly meaningful to you, please visit our webpage: physics.uchicago.edu/give